None.
Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to automotive service equipment, and more particularly to a method for remote access to, and diagnosis of, software applications and hardware configurations of a vehicle wheel alignment system computer interconnected via a local or global network, such as the Internet, to a remote computer system to facilitate maintenance, repair, and efficient operation thereof.
As described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/388,730 filed Sep. 2, 1999, herein incorporated by reference, and in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/587,637 filed Jun. 5, 2000, it is desirable that a general purpose computer associated with an automotive diagnostic or service system such as a vehicle wheel alignment system include an operating system which is fully compatible with local and global computer networks such as the Internet to exchange information with remote computers and databases. Examples of such currently available 32-bit operating systems include the Microsoft Windows(trademark) OS family of products, such as Windows 2000 and Windows CE, and Palm Computing""s Palm OS products, all capable of running Internet browser software such as Microsoft""s Internet Explorer or Netscape""s Communicator. Future operating systems utilizing a 64-bit, 128-bit, or 2xe2x80x3-bit bases are anticipated as suitable logical extensions of current operating systems as computer hardware technology improves. Additional computing products on which vehicle wheel alignment systems having Internet access may be implemented include tablet-type computers and pocket-type computers, both of which would be form factors highly suited for use in an automotive repair shop environment.
Such a vehicle wheel alignment system further should provide improved Internet integration of the automotive diagnostic or wheel alignment system when compared to conventional automotive diagnostic or vehicle wheel alignment systems. For example, a vehicle wheel alignment system utilizing Internet integration should include an ability to utilize Microsoft""s standard or compact versions of xe2x80x9cdotxe2x80x9d-NET (or NET) Web Services, which are building blocks for constructing distributed Internet or web-based applications in a platform, object model, and multi-language manner. These xe2x80x9cdotxe2x80x9d-NET Web Services are based upon open Internet standards and protocols, such as HTTP and XML, and provide a URL-addressable resource which programmatically returns information to systems who want to use it, without the systems needing to know how the service has been implemented. Specifically, Web Services represents black-box functionality which may be reused without concern for how the service is implemented, by providing well-defined user interfaces, known as xe2x80x9ccontracts,xe2x80x9d which describe the features of the service. In this manner, vehicle wheel alignment applications can be assembled from a variety of components, consisting of remote services accessed via the Internet, local services, and custom software written in an intermediate language, any of several computer languages including C#, Visual Basic, C++, Cobol, Perl, Java, JScript and VBScript, and may utilize component object model (COM) and distributed COM (DCOM) standards. Individual xe2x80x9cdotxe2x80x9d-NET Web Services and components can be further enhanced by using xe2x80x9cinheritancexe2x80x9d properties to extend the capabilities of existing components. These remote and local services and custom software may further utilize a standard xe2x80x9cdotxe2x80x9d-NET framework or information exchange protocol, such as Microsoft""s Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) to exchange information over the Internet. The SOAP methodology provides a lightweight protocol for the exchange of information in a decentralized and distributed environment, such as the Internet. SOAP is an XML based protocol which consists of three parts, an envelope for defining a framework for the contents of a message and the manner in which it is to be processed, a set of encoding rules for expressing datatypes, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses.
In contrast, conventional general purpose computers included in traditional vehicle wheel alignment systems may provide limited access to a network of computers (e.g., LAN) and to the Internet. Traditional vehicle wheel alignment systems generally do not integrate the Internet into associated automotive service, maintenance, repair or inspection software, such as wheel alignment diagnostic software. Instead, the associated computer operates as would any other PC, configured to browse the Internet without fully integrating the Internet into the system software to utilize the availability of remote access and information exchange. Therefore, it is desirable to develop an automotive diagnostic or repair system such as a vehicle wheel alignment system which integrates local or global computer networks such as the Internet into the wheel alignment system software to provide a more efficient and accurate system than is currently available. The integrated Internet application centralizes maintenance of software applications, components, and services, remote system diagnosis, and the remote gathering of useful statistical and logging information.
For example, when a software or hardware failure occurs in a conventional vehicle wheel alignment system, a repair technician cannot determine the operational status of the equipment other than by visiting the location at which the automotive diagnostic or repair system is installed to inspect the machine and to question shop personnel. Additionally, each repair technician is required to bring software replacements and updates to each physical location visited, so as to be able to diagnose and repair problems on a wide variety of vehicle wheel alignment systems without the need for return visits. Finally, there is currently no repository for statistical and status information related to individual units and to groups of vehicle wheel alignment systems. Collections of information such as system usage, configurations, downtime, vehicle wheel alignment procedures performed, and software component applications such as services can be utilized to provide beneficial guidance for the development, maintenance and repair of a variety of different automotive diagnostic and repair systems, as well as increased vehicle repair shop efficiency. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a vehicle wheel alignment system that allows for nearly instantaneous bi-directional, information access via a local or global computer network (e.g., the Internet) so that data and commands such as current status information and statistics, software updates, component objects, and services such as alignment, diagnostic, or repair routines can be readily accessed and utilized by repair technicians at a remote system during the maintenance of the vehicle wheel alignment system.
A system and method for distributed computer automotive service equipment is described in International Application No. WO 99/23783 to Snap-on Technologies, Inc. wherein computerized automotive service equipment is adapted to access one or more remotely located computer systems to retrieve or exchange the data and/or software necessary analyze and diagnose a vehicle undergoing service. For example, in the WO 99/23783 application, raw data from vehicle wheel alignment sensors mounted on a vehicle wheel is received a local computer, and then transmitted to a remote system over a network wherein the raw data is processed and vehicle wheel alignment angles returned over the network to the local computer for display to a technician. Additionally disclosed are similar applications for engine analyzers and brake testers, as well as the transfer and exchange of vehicle OEM specifications from the remote system over the network to the local computers. However, the WO 99/23783 application does not incorporate any features for the collection of data pertaining to the operation of the individual sensors and local computers and equipment, or for the remote diagnosis and repair thereof in the event a fault is identified.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,233 to Cherrington et al. discloses an integrated highly automated vehicle analysis system employing at least one technician terminal for displaying a plurality of inspection screens and for entering inspection results from which a report is generated. The ""233 Cherrington et al. technician terminal may be coupled to a point-of-sale terminal through a network, which is used to generate a cost estimate report in response to an inspection report generated by the technician terminal. The ""233 Cherrington et al. system includes a plurality of electronic databases for storing vehicle specifications, customer records, and a parts catalog database. Additionally disclosed in the ""233 Cherrington et al. system is the interconnection between a plurality of point-of-sale terminals and a central server for the purpose of storing customer records and vehicle inspection reports in a central location. However, the ""233 Cherrington et al. system does not incorporate any features for the collection of data pertaining to the operation of the individual vehicle sensors and local service computers or equipment, or for the remote diagnosis and repair thereof in the event a fault is identified.
A basic system for automatically updating static and dynamic files at a network node in response to instructions of an application program is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,772 to Halliwell et al. The ""772 Halliwell et al. patent describes a data processing network in which specific and complicated control logic is utilized to coordinate the updating, creation, and deletion of files on a work station computer from a host computer. In the ""772 Halliwell system, the control logic is responsive to calls issued by, or on behalf of, an application which is invoked by a user at the work station computer to determine if a file or set of files is the most up-to-date version available. If it is not, the control logic coordinates the acquisition of the most up-to-date version of the files from the host computer, deleting obsolete and unused files in the process. However, the ""772 Halliwell et al. patent does not provide any method or application for remote access to, and diagnosis of, the work station computer by the host computer.
A similar network-based software application update system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,204 to Yinger et al. The ""204 Yinger et al. patent sets forth a data processing system for installation of a computer application on a client/server network on an as needed basis. In the ""204 Yinger et al. system, the control logic seeks out the most up-to-date versions of an application only when a user selects and runs an existing version of that application. The goal of the ""204 Yinger et al. patent is to provide an automated software update system which is transparent to the user, and is capable of automatically acquiring updated software without the need for extensive user interaction. However, as with the ""772 Halliwell et al. system, the software update system disclosed in the ""204 Yinger et al. patent must be initiated by some form of user interaction at a work-station or client computer, and does not provide for any method of remote access to the client by a server for purposes of diagnosis or the collection of statistical information.
Patch or update files that allow for correcting or updating the automotive diagnostic system software also could be downloaded to the vehicle wheel alignment system from the Internet in a similar fashion. Methods and applications for patch updating of software in an incremental fashion to navigation systems are described generally in U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,113 to McGrath et al. The ""113 patent describes a method by which a geographical data set, broken out into a series of transactions, can be utilized to update a vehicle navigation system by sending and receiving, in a specific order, each of the transactions which comprises the entire geographical data set to be updated. Such a system, however, provides no flexibility to analyze data, and is limited in the types of services and forms of communication between the data store and the receiving unit.
Briefly stated, an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention is of a wheel alignment system which includes at least one sensing device for acquiring automotive data, interface circuitry in communication with the sensing device for generating data representative of automotive data acquired by the sensing device, and a host computer in communication with the interface circuitry for performing a sequence of operations on the data generated by the interface circuitry. The host computer provides integrated network access to allow for transmission to the vehicle wheel alignment system from a remote server, via a communications link, updated information and access to web service applications necessary to accurately diagnose a vehicle, and the return of diagnostic, statistical, and log information associated with the vehicle wheel alignment system. In the preferred embodiment, the host computer provides integrated Internet access to allow for transmission of statistical information such as alignment logs, error messages, status messages, or diagnostic information to a remote system, and for the receipt of information including updated software applications, access to web services, diagnostic commands, and remote information queries therefrom.
As a method, the present invention involves the remote diagnosis, repair, and updating of software applications on vehicle wheel alignment systems from a remote computer system via a communications link such as the Internet, as well as the collection of statistical information from one or more vehicle wheel alignment systems at the remote computer system. Upon either receipt of a signal from an identified vehicle wheel alignment system, or operator command, the remote computer system accesses, via the communications link, the identified vehicle wheel alignment system and extracts diagnostic information relating to the operating status of the vehicle wheel alignment system. The remote computer system analyzes the extracted diagnostic data, and responsive to the analysis, transmits one or more commands to the vehicle wheel alignment system and/or updates or provides access to software applications and services associated with the vehicle wheel alignment system. In addition to extracting diagnostic information, the remote computer may extract and process statistical information associated with the accessed vehicle wheel alignment system to facilitate the diagnosis, repair, and updating or access to the software applications and services on one or more the vehicle wheel alignment system.
The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention as well as presently preferred embodiments thereof will become more apparent from the reading of the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings.